Thanksgiving visit ends with parents dissolving in acid

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Authorities say a 28-year-old man home for Thanksgiving killed his parents, then tried to dissolve their bodies in an “acid-based solution” of bleach and sewer cleaners, WBIR reports.

According to the Kingsport Times-News, authorities discovered the crime scene inside a Tennessee home on Monday—at least two days after the killings—after the couple’s employer and family grew concerned. “It would be described as horrific, a very gruesome crime scene,” Maj. Michael MacLean with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office tells the Knoxville News Sentinel. ”

Both suffered multiple, vicious stab wounds as well as dismemberment,” he tells WBIR. The couple may have been tortured first, and their remains were spread around the house for unexplained reasons.

Authorities arrested the couple’s son, Joel Guy Jr., outside his Louisiana apartment on charges of first-degree murder on Tuesday. A motive hasn’t been given, but authorities say Guy was unemployed and his parents planned to talk to him about cutting off his financial support while he was home.

Family members say Guy had been in college for nine years, studying to become a plastic surgeon, and his parents had been supporting him the whole time. But they had recently sold their house and were ready to retire.

Guy’s three sisters say everything appeared normal during Thanksgiving dinner, and Guy has no prior criminal history. “It’s one thing to stab someone, but to do everything that he did, to dismember his parents’ bodies?” Guy’s aunt tells the Times-News.